Page 19 of A SEAL’s Vigilant Heart

“Okay, so what’s got our groom’s panties in a twist? Have you found out, Dare? You drew the short straw.”

“God dammit.” Mason rubbed the back of his neck and then stopped. He hated when he was obvious. And he knew when he did that it was obvious he was upset about something. The guys laughed.

“Spill it,” Drake demanded.

“Ever since I came home wounded Sophia’s been having bad dreams. She hasn’t done that since those two assholes attacked her a couple of years ago.” Mason looked out towards the moonlit ocean hoping to find answers.

“Shit, that’s to be expected.”

“No, it’s not. She’s even lost some weight she couldn’t afford to lose. This is really getting to her.”

“So when you asked her about it, what did she say?” Darius asked.

Mason swirled his hand in the water.

“You haven’t fucking asked her?” Drake shouted.

“Keep your voice down. I don’t want Billy to hear.”

“You haven’t asked her? Are you dumb?”

“There’s no point. I know what it is. She’s scared I’m on the teams, and she doesn’t want to tell me. She’d never tell me. She always puts her own needs last, and I’m not fucking having it.”

His outburst was met with dead silence. Darius and Drake looked at one another.

“Aren’t you going to ask me?”

“Don’t have to,” Darius said. “Have you made up your mind?”

“Pretty much. I’m going to talk to the captain after the wedding.”

“You’d be working the intel?” Darius asked.

“Yeah, Osterman asked me to do it right after our last goat fuck of a mission. We talked, and I turned him down after suggesting Marty.”

“Marty would be great. You’d be better,” Drake said. “This is fucked up. This is royally fucked up. You are the stupidest man on the planet. You need to talk to your woman.”

“Nope. And you guys better plant some smiles on your God damn faces. Billy has been planning this party for weeks.”

“And just when do you think we got stupid?” Drake asked.

“Sorry. This shit has me all twisted up.”

Darius stopped Mason’s board again. “Mase, you know whatever your decision is we have your back, right?”

Mason felt his chest tighten.

“Yeah. Even if you do abandon us,” Drake said with a grin.

“You’re an asshole, Avery,” Darius said to Drake, shaking his head.

“It sounded like a Hallmark commercial. I couldn’t help it.”

Mason laughed at their antics.

***

He sat propped up against a piece of driftwood and drank a Pacifico beer. He loved seeing Billy get so much attention from his team. Right now he was practically rolling in the sand with laughter. Dare was telling him about Drake’s first time on a surfboard. It had been a sight to behold.